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The Jim Jackson Show: Damon Jones

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen
The Truth Network Radio
January 2, 2025 5:30 pm

The Jim Jackson Show: Damon Jones

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen

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January 2, 2025 5:30 pm

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Jim is joined by friend and former teammate Damon Jones to reminisce about their playing days together in Sacramento, Damon’s transition into coaching and witnessing LeBron James’ 2016 Championship run, the state of the NBA game today, and much more.

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Terms and points can't apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash Amex Business. Happy New Year, 2025. I hope everybody who's listening, tuning in to Jim Jackson's show had a great, great holiday season. Happy New Year. You can follow the show, of course, on YouTube, Spotify, IG, at Jim Jackson's show.

YouTube.com, Rich Eigen Show, Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your, or download your podcast. But again, go back. I mean, it's 2025. I mean, unbelievable how quickly the year has gone by. A lot of things have happened. Lost a lot of great people in 2024.

Gives you time to reflect a little bit more. We're digging deeper into the basketball season. Shout out to my Buckeyes right now because yesterday got a little get back against Oregon. We lost that game early. Beaver Stadium, I believe the name of it is, is always a tough place to play. We lost that one possession game, but we got some good back. So shout out to my Buckeyes for the redemption part of it and a couple of games to go before we get a national championship.

But love to see that. A lot of things going on right now in the NBA. Also want to send a shout out to Jay J. Naivi, man. A tough injury that he suffered against the Orlando Magic.

I believe it was last night. A tough road to recovery. The diagnosis. I think it was kind of broken leg in a couple of different places, but had a chance to follow him at Purdue, his career and what he was doing with the Pistons. Although the record didn't indicate with the Pistons what they were, the progression as a team, but they were a fun team to watch. He was playing extremely well and that organization was starting to turn the corner.

So wishing him nothing but the best in his recovery because he's the integral part of that young core of what's going on. Getting close to the All-Star game coming up. I know the voting is out, which is surprising to want to talk about that. One of the big things was that the early reports of the voting. And it's interesting because in the East, you can tell by the votes a little bit like who's out there voting. Because the metal ball right now would be the starting point guard in the East. And I think that tells a lot about the millennials and who's out there voting right now. That's not a good thing or a bad thing. It's just the NBA, you want to have young people involved in voting.

So when you open it up to the public to be able to have an impact on the starters, this is what happens. It's just like when Yao kind of was at the height of his popularity. You had a lot of foreign or Asian voters who voted for Yao who was able to push him to phenomenal numbers at that time.

Because of the support mechanisms of who he was. And I think you see that now with young people looking at some of the younger Shea Gilges Alexander right now leading the Western Conference too and voting. A lot of that has to do with that. So shout out to that, to the young people for really being involved in the early All-Star voting.

I'd like to see that definitely. And for me, it's just looking forward to 2025 from a basketball perspective. Things are starting to round out a little bit more, especially in the Western Conference. OKC is the team that we thought would be at the top, which they are. But right now, if you look right up underneath that aspect of it, you've got Memphis right now playing well.

Seven of the last three kind of rounding in the form. I always thought Memphis was a good team last year. But I thought from a basketball maturity perspective, they still had room to grow, growth.

Whether that was from Jeff, whether it was from Jaron Jackson, Bain. But this team now is playing a lot different, playing with a different level of maturity. Hence is why they're in second place. But shout out to the Rockets. Seven and three in their last ten games.

The job that Emei Udelka has done with that squad has been phenomenal. Just from a defensive perspective. Now, I think they still challenge offensively.

They're still going to have to figure that part out because they're not as efficient. They don't shoot the ball as well from the perimeter as other teams. And I think that can catch back up to them in the playoff series. But right now, what they're able to do, the buy-in, I think defensively has been phenomenal.

And there's a lot of accountability being held by the coaching staff to those young players. A team you need to watch out for, too, is Denver. Denver's playing extremely well. I mean, they started off a little bit slow.

But they're seven and three in their last ten games. And Jokic just had the other night the quickest, I think in 20 minutes, he played 29 minutes. In 20 minutes, he had the quickest triple-double ever in the history of the game. I mean, if you don't think we're watching something special right now with Jokic, don't take it for granted. I say that with all the great players with that.

Steph, Durant, Jokic, LeBron, whoever it may be. Giannis, don't take this greatness for granted because we see it a lot and it becomes common. Let me tell you something. It's not common. It may be common for that person, but what that person or individual is accomplishing is not.

So don't take it for granted. I think the second half of this season in the Western Conference is going to be interesting. The second half of the season in the Eastern Conference is going to be interesting because the Cavs continue to play extremely well.

I think they're hunting for that number one spot. I don't think the Celtics are as eager to get it as much as, say, the Cavs are. Because the Cavs want to have that home court advantage throughout the whole playoffs. I think Boston is secure enough to know that they can go on the road even if they're in second place in the Eastern Conference Finals.

They have to go on the road to the number one seed that they can win it. The team you've got to watch out for, if healthy, is the Sixers right now who sit in the 11th spot up to this point. But they're 7-3 in their last ten and they're healthy.

They're healthy. And I'll be talking a little bit later with a good friend of mine, Damon Jones, about Philly and their progression. And MB's impact with his health and what Philly can be. I just think that they have the best roster. That doesn't mean they have the best team. But I'm talking about they have the best roster individually that can compete.

Whether that bodes well and health holds up, we'll see. But that's a team in the East that slowly you probably have to keep your eye on. If healthy, they can make a move again, not too far out of position here in 11th right now.

But you go on a little winning streak now. You're tracking that top 6-7-8 and you're right back in the hunt. So interesting parts coming up for the second half of the season. This is the dog days of the season leading into the All-Star break when teams are trying to figure some things out. Some trades are going to be made coming up in January. So it's going to be interesting to see how these rosters build out. But I'm excited for the second part of this season. Meaning that teams are going to figure out who they are, what their rotations are, if they need to make some moves.

Because we know that the superstars kind of rise to the top. And some of these younger teams and younger players are starting to mature. And as we get closer to the All-Star break and post All-Star break, I think a lot of that is going to stand out. So stay tuned for the second half of the season.

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See store or sleepnumber.com for details. As promised, good friend of mine. One of my former teammates.

One of my best friends that I've played with. Continued to, unfortunately, hang out with too much in L.A. Too many cigars. But hey man, first of all, happy new year.

Happy new year. How was it? What'd you do? I didn't do much. You know, I had a couple of cigars.

Why you laughing? I watched the fireworks. That was it. Come on, man. I don't do a lot of interesting things anymore that, you know, I'm reaching 45.

Man, stop it. So you didn't go by the spot? You didn't go by state? You did it over there? No, I just stayed in Inglewood.

They had a big fireworks thing over across the street at Cosom. And yeah, it was nice. Really nice. Well, good for you, man. I'm glad to see that you mature now that you grew up a little bit more so. Yeah, I've done a little bit, man. You know, I owe it all to you and, you know, your elder stateshood that has calmed me down a little bit. Hey, listen, it's interesting that, you know, we talk a lot about basketball life during our playing time and how great it was.

But is it just me of how quickly, you know, you played 11, I played 14, but how quickly that goes by. And you had a different career path, of course, because of your path to get to where you were at. But you were finally able to win a championship and be in winning situations. But do we tend to take it for granted a lot of times once we're in the situation?

And if we do, do we look at it a lot differently? How do you look at it differently now that you've been retired? Well, I have to say, coming into the league, I did have to take a different path than most guys didn't get drafted. So I didn't take it for granted at the beginning. I mean, every situation for me was, man, it was a dire situation.

I was on 10 day contracts or, you know, I was on non guarantee. So the first three or four years, I didn't take it for granted. But once I got that security, then you kind of, you know, rest on your laurels and just know you have to be ready to play.

But man, it goes by really, really fast, man. And I don't miss the playing, but I missed the camaraderie. I missed the competition. And that's something that, you know, drives me trying to get back in coaching. Did you, when was it when you had that moment where you finally felt secure enough, basketball wise, that you could take that deep breath?

I'm not saying that you were comfortable, but you finally felt secure enough. Where were you at? What team? Unfortunately, it came by injury. I was in with the Milwaukee Bucks. Terry Porter was the head coach. And unfortunately, that year, T.J. Ford was our high draft pick and our point guard of the future.

And man, unfortunately, he had a terrible accident where he broke his neck. And I took over the reins for, I think, 65 games going into the first round of playoffs. We end up losing to Detroit, who end up winning the championship that year. I think that was the point where I felt like I belonged and, you know, being able to start and win games. And from there on, I went to Miami and then Cleveland. The, walking back through this, and people don't know, we were together in Sacramento, man. We had a ball, man. That team was, to me, when we were together, that was the 0-3 season. I was a free agent after that. We end up losing in the Western Conference semifinals to Dallas because C-Web got hurt. He got hurt.

But that makeup of that team with B-Jax, Bobby Jackson, and Mike Bibby, and, you know, of course, C-Web and Flade. Heato was a rookie. Payser. Joe Wallace, Payser. Scott Pollard, shout out to Scott Pollard who was going through his heart transplant and recovering and doing well.

Mateen, who I had on the show that was one of the most inspirational people, period. Not playing a lot, but was always supportive and doing so. How special was that team, man? The 2003 Sacramento team? That was a special team.

Again, I came to that situation because Mike Bibby had got hurt early on in the season and they decided to bring me in. And, man, I'm telling you, that was one of the funnest teams I've ever been a part of. Not only did we have great camaraderie, we also went out there and took care of business on the court as well.

And I think we were on a trajectory to do something really special if C-Web doesn't get hurt in that game, too, against Dallas. So, man, that was a special time and all those guys, I still see them and still say hi. We talk sometimes about those days. Hey, listen, it's funny because I got brought in, too. I was a free agent that year.

It was either Hedo or Payser got hurt. And I didn't come in until, man, it might have been December, I think, of that year. So the funny stuff, a couple of funny things from that. You remember I got locked in the C room? Man, you always had something crazy going on. And it was you that was in there with me. I think you did it on purpose.

Yeah, I didn't do that. It was probably Vladi or somebody playing Frank Keon Clark, who you never know, with that bunch of guys that we had, man. Doug Christie, shout out to him. Oh, shout out to Doug. Now, interim head coach for the Sacramento Kings, they had a big win last night. Shout out to him. No, man, I think Vladi was laughing too hard, so it may have been Vladi that did it on that occasion, man. But, hey, you remember when Keon, and that's our boy, but Keon would sneak in the bathroom at halftime, take a couple puffs of the cigarette and blow it up in the... Hey, man, I don't know what you're talking about, Charles the White.

Hey, Keon is our guy. I know, man. That's just like, what? I don't remember. You don't remember?

No, I don't remember. No, I'm not going to be on camera saying that Keon Clark and Vladi Devos were smoking cigarettes and having... I didn't say nothing about Vladi. I'm not going to say that. But I didn't say nothing about Vladi.

I'm just saying, I don't know. I don't know what happened. But that was... I tell you what, that year, it made...

I was having my own challenges, you know, around that time. Coming from Miami the year before, playing well, I had a chance to go back there, but not in the position that I wanted to. And Pat Roddick was straight up with me when he told me, he said, Jimmy, you need to go somewhere where you can really start and play. I was starting in Miami, he said, but I drafted these two young players. And then it happened to be Dwyane Wade and Ron Butler.

He said, but you always got a place here, but you should find somewhere as a free agent that you can really have a significant impact and play a lot. And I always respected Pat Roddick for that. But playing on that Sacramento team, man, allowed me to kind of enjoy the game again, find that joy, that passion because of the group that we had. I mean, we were unselfish, we played together, we supported each other. More importantly, we won in Sacramento. The fans in the crowd at that time were phenomenal. They were really good. And that situation propelled me to what my career became, meaning from the standpoint I understood what winning was about. I understood what it took to win. And from that situation in Sacramento throughout the rest of my career, except the last year that I spent in Milwaukee, I was always deep in the playoffs and we always had good teams. So shout out to Sacramento, shout out to Rick Adelman for giving me an opportunity as a defensive kid that could shoot the ball a little bit.

And he gave me an opportunity to get out there and that what propelled my career to the Milwaukee situation, then Miami and then, you know, whatever I did in Cleveland. Hey there, Ryan Reynolds here. It's a new year. You know what that means? No, not the diet, resolutions.

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Follow and listen on your favorite platform. So with Cleveland, too, was that the point, too, by playing with Braun early that squad getting 0 7 that year to the finals against San Antonio? Yeah. Did you what what was that like early in Braun's career to where you see he's gotten to. Now, with with his current status with the Lakers.

Well, when we first got there, you know. Offensively, he did everything. I mean, he set the table, he bought the groceries, he cooked the food, and, you know, it was great. I think as the years went on, he became better defensively. And that's what propelled us to, you know, having great teams every year was his maturity and how he took the challenge on the defensive end. It wasn't just going a lot of points, assisting the basketball.

He was also taking a challenge on the defensive end. And that made us a way better team because, you know, you have your best player doing everything offensively, but also setting the tone defensively as well. And that's why we were able to win the way that we did in Cleveland in those four years. But you circle back 2016, 2002, 18, you come back as a coach, you know, with the Cavs.

So it's a different time period. And you saw a whole different growth maturity wise in his game. What was the big and he talked about that. But was there another level in which he went to him mentally?

Forget the physical part. He's always been physically blessed and even skill from that perspective. But what was the biggest mental jump you saw with him during that time period as a coach?

His attention to detail. There was nothing, no situation, no play call from the opposition that he didn't know and that he didn't have counters for defensively. And that's one thing that people don't understand when they say that he's coaching the basketball team.

He's not. He's just an extension on the coach of the coach on the basketball court. And I mean, you can't get nothing by him if you listen to some of the interviews from DeMar DeRozan in Toronto to Jeff Teague in Atlanta. Those guys saying that, you know, Bron had us figured out and it was nothing that we we could do to get past it. So his attention to detail, along with, you know, just maturing in the game, getting older, understanding what it takes to win and what it took to lead other guys to be able to help as well.

So do you think that a lot of people take that greatness for granted? I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you right now, when he's gone. Man, it's going to it's going to be a sad day because, you know, he's carried the league for so long. You have other great players, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant.

Those guys will probably be transitioning out as well. But the impact that he has on and off the court for the game of basketball in our league is. It's unprecedented, so I try to enjoy every opportunity that he has going out there to play, because I know at some point that there's going to be a time where he walks away and when he does, it's going to be it's going to be a sad day for the league. It is, too, but it also invites a conversation there. We hear it all the time when we're out having a cigar about who's the greatest and who's the best to ever do it, you know, and it's different categories and different circumstances as to why and how you're I think how you look at it, you know, and how you evaluate what greatness is, you know, not just the flash part of it, but the accomplishments. But it's a lot of factors that goes into it. Is it is it a fair conversation when you start talking about the greatest of all time, when you have to take into account different styles, different play, different errors, and then kind of put that all together and just have one person? I mean, it's it's unfair because, you know, Michael said that, you know, there were guys before him that, you know, set the tone for him. And then he came on and, you know, did the things, amazing things that he was able to do. And then, you know, you usher in Kobe Bryant, God rest his soul. And then you have a young kid that comes in with, man, the world on his shoulders and expectations through the roof. And we're talking about a high school senior come into the league and fulfilled every.

Everything, everything that you thought he could be or would be or would try to be. He's done it and he's done it for a long time. And, you know, he's my goat. But, you know, I played with him, coached him and, you know, been with him for a long time.

So that's my opinion. And but, you know, it's tough to do because you have a lot of great players that played this game in the history. And for me, you know, LeBron is the goat in my opinion. So why do you why do you think that Kobe does it when that his name gets eliminated, five championships? I know he only got one MVP.

He should have probably had a couple more. Hey, Shaq only got one MVP, you know, as dominant as he was during a certain time period. Why do you think that Kobe's name outside of maybe some of the younger guys that grew up, you know, idolizing Kobe kind of why is his name eliminated or pushed to the back a little bit more when they talk about the greatest of all time? Well, I don't think his name is pushed to the side. I think some people, you know, have him in the conversation.

I think, if anything. Right. And this is all subjective. OK, I think with the five championships that he won the first three Shaq was finals MVP. And, you know, at that particular time in his career, he was the most dominant player in the league. And I think if anybody says that he's not a part of the conversation, it would probably be because of that.

But nothing else. I mean, he had the work ethic, he had the skill, he had the footwork and he had to drive to, you know, want to win every single night he went out there. And, you know, he put the work in. So if anybody would say that, you know, he's not in Michaels or or LeBron's stratosphere far as greatest of all time, it would probably be because of those first three championships where Shaq won finals MVP.

But let me ask you this. Does it hurt Kobe and his legacy? Because as much as he emulated Mike, we already saw Mike. You know, that that comparison, because we saw Mike already.

I'm not and I'm speaking from this perspective because I hear it all the time. Well, we saw Mike. So Kobe was Mike 2.0, but the goat was already there. Did you think that kind of comparison hurts him more than helps him?

No, I don't think so. Because if you have Michael Jordan as your goat, then being able to emulate that and do it to the to a level in which he did it, then I think that would only enhance his case. But I don't think because he, you know, as you said, Jordan 2.0 hurts his is his conversation. I think if anything, right, if anything, and I want to choose my words wisely because L.A. fan go crazy when you don't put Kobe one or two in the goat conversation. And it's because, you know, Shaq and those first three championships being as dominant as he was and winning all three finals MVPs. No, I get it.

You know, and to be honest, it's a tough dynamic. I always tell people all the time, I say it's like music. What's your favorite drum? If you were if you were born in the 70s and 80s, you love that type of music. R&B, hip hop in the early 90s, because when you were younger is more nostalgic. And that's something that you can always go back to when you hear a certain song or certain melody or tune.

It takes you back to when you were younger and it has a nostalgic to it. I think when you talk about players and errors, a lot of people, when they look at it, say, well, when I was growing up, this is what I like. This is the player. And that doesn't take away from the players that are playing today, because I think you just got to meet the players today where they're at. The young guys playing the game, young women playing the game, well, they shoot too many threes. Well, they shoot too many threes because that's what they see.

They see it all. And they grew up playing that way, no matter how much we want to impart upon them or have them look at the 80s and 90s and play tough. They're not playing in the backyard. They're not playing in the little gyms. They're not playing in the alleys, in the parks.

So they don't, their reference point is what they see. And mine is this, if we're evaluating overall basketball, and I always go to this, Kareem is the goal to me. Overall career. When you look at high school, what he did in college, three-time national player of the year, three-time national championship, they championed, they took the actual dunk away from him. Well, out of basketball because of that, what he was able to do, six-time champion, six-time MVP, whatever it was, all-time scoring champ, all defensively, all that stuff. When you look at the totality of what Kareem was able to accomplish over the course of a basketball career, it's hard to argue against that if you look at totality. You know what I mean? Impact-wise, it's something totally different.

Yeah, that's fair. And again, it depends on, again, what era you played in, how much basketball you were watching, and not to be funny, but funny at the same time. You grew up in that era back in the 60s and 50s. You know what I'm saying? We all know how old you are.

You was slapping fire with Alton Lister back in the day. So, I mean, it's what you think. And it's okay. It's okay to have different opinions. And that's what upsets me about the whole conversation is that if you don't like LeBron or if you like Jordan and somebody else goes against your opinion, then, I mean, all hell breaks loose. And it doesn't have to be like that. Yeah.

You can just have a conversation and opinion. It's not a personal thing. By you talking about LeBron or about Kobe, it's not putting down the other player.

Right. Now, some people want to try to argue that point, though, and try to put down. But the way I know a lot of us do, it's like, listen, the reason why we think about it is this way. It's not putting down the other player for a different reason.

It's just, here's our thoughts from it. And I think that's a mature type of conversation and a discussion more so than, nah, man, he ain't do this. And I don't like him because it is. Nah, that's a whole personal thing. Yeah. Right. And it's a lot of that going around, too.

A lot of personals. It is. But speak about that. Now, let's switch it to the current stuff right now because we watch a lot of basketball. Who's the biggest threat to the Celtics? The biggest threat to the Celtics? Yeah. Now, it can be Eastern Conference or Western Conference. Wow. The biggest threat, man, I would have to say the New York Knicks.

Yeah. With the move that they made getting Carl Anthony Towns, now you have that stretch five that can match a poor Zingas. And then with the other guys, you know, being able to score the basketball the way that they have and, you know, play that tough defense that Tibbs hasn't playing out there. I would say them. Or Milwaukee has gotten it together. They started out kind of slow. No Philly?

No. Philadelphia, in my opinion, it all stands on the health of Joel Embiid. And he hasn't shown thus far that he can stay healthy. So, I mean, if he's healthy with Maxie and Paul George and Kyle Lowry and Oubre and Martin, Eric Gordon coming off the bench, you know, I like the team. But if Joel Embiid isn't healthy, I don't think they have an opportunity to match or even beat the Celtics. I thought this, D, that at the beginning of the year, just from a roster perspective, that they had the best roster in the league, just from like one through nine, one through ten, roster wise, even throwing Reggie Jackson and that with Caleb Martin. Just the moves that they were able to make, the guys that they brought back, I thought on paper, but they would have to be healthy. The thing about the Knicks that I love is that they play tough-minded, they match up well with Boston, they force Boston to be uncomfortable. But then I'm talking about depth when they dig into their bench. Now, we all know that a coach prefers an eight- and nine-man rotation.

We ain't talking about 10, 11, 12. You think they're deep enough depth-wise once you get into the seven-game series with Boston, if they get to that point. I think that from what I've been hearing, they are trying to make moves to improve their depth. And if they can do that, you know, we don't know. We know how trade season is.

You have to have somebody else that wants to dance with you to be able to make trades work. So if they're able to get some depth, I like their roster. I would love for them to get Devin Shenzo back from Minnesota.

That would be a nice pickup, but we have to see. Well, man, listen, man, you know, I always love chatting it up with you. But one more thing before we get out of here, and this is, you know, how we do. So if from the perspective of the NBA and where we're at, we always talk about the game and how it's changed and the three-point shot. The State of the Union, if you were to change or adjust or want to see something a little bit different to continue to push the game forward, what would it be?

Wow. I know it's tough with collective bargaining, but I would like to see the luxury tax and all that other stuff go away. So teams are able to, you know, really get out there and make their team better. I think with the luxury tax and the way trades and signing free agency is now, it makes it tough on teams that are, you know, big spenders.

So if anything, that will probably be it. I love the game the way it is now. A lot of people are upset about all the three-point shots, but the three-point shot is the equalizer in the game. You could be down 12, 13 points and get back in it with three threes. And, you know, that's something that, you know, I loved as a player being able to shoot the three. And, you know, I enjoy the game today and where it is.

I tell you what, if I had to, it's among the court stuff that I look at. But one thing I would, from a collective bargaining agreement, that I would love to see happen is that teams that draft their players and it's time to re-sign them. That only a portion of that counts against the cap.

Because what ends up happening, what I say is, what ends up happening is OKC is going to have to deal with it. That the retention of their talent, they've developed them and now because of the restrictions of the cap, they're not going to be able to keep them. So I think there should be a way where teams, when you draft a player like that and they're up for a contract.

Yeah, some of the money's going to count towards the luxury tax, but some of it shouldn't in order for you to keep them there. That's different than a free agent. That's different than somebody coming in on a trade. I'm talking about homegrown talent that you can mature for three years and now it's time after that third year you got that option to sign them. But you can't because it's the first apron or it's the second apron and OKC is going to have to go through that right now.

You know what I mean? With that young talent. Yeah, and that's something that Minnesota was looking at as well. And that's why they had the right look of Kat, because, you know, the salaries will get high up there for their for their franchise. And, you know, they had to make a decision. Did they want to get rid of Karl-Anthony Towns?

I don't think so. But with the emergence of Anthony Edwards and the money that you paid Rudy Gobert, then you had you had to decide. And they decided to bring in Julius Randle and and DiVincenzo.

And so it's tough, but I would love to see the Oklahoma City Thunder and the way that they draft be able to stay together five, six, seven years to see how that talent all meshes together over a long period of time. I appreciate it, bro. Thank you. As always, I'll be back.

We on this road trip right now, but I'll be back because I know you tired of smoking them Gordo. So I got you. Hey, I hadn't had it. I hadn't had it.

I'm going to get one right now. Hey, well, I'll see you this weekend, brother. Love you to death. Love you. Thanks for having me on. Of course, bro. You got it right. All right. Two thousand twenty five.

First edition of off the court, one of my favorite segments of the show. And because we're talking about something a little bit different, I'm going to keep it brief. But I'm going to tell you, I'm not a big New Year's resolution person.

I'm just not. I don't sit and say, well, this year I'm a goal oriented person. A very much so kind of keep a lot of that close to the vest as I know what I want to do and how to accomplish it. But it's not like I have a big thing for resolutions.

I'm not saying that's right or wrong. A lot of people do have it because that provides the impetus, but also the discipline, the focus to be able to accomplish something. Whether that's at the end of the year, whether that's during the middle of the year, whatever it may be, each person has a way of motivating themselves. I don't from a resolution perspective, in particular, when we start to turn the calendar year. But I will say this, too, and I read a great quote about changing the year because a lot of people say 2024 was just devastating to me. I'm ready to get out of this year. It was too much.

It was too heavy. I will say this. If you live long enough, you're going to have a lot of those years like that where things seem to not be going correctly. It's some challenges. But if you live long enough, you kind of balance those things out, hopefully. But that's the beauty about life. But I did read this, too, and I thought it was very interesting, too, for people that want to turn the calendar year, to turn the page. They want changes. But you've got to change your mindset because if your habits don't change, you won't have a new year. You'll just have another year.

Just think about what that means. You know, changing your habits. Yeah, we may want something. We may want to do something different. But if we continue to think the same way, act the same way, then how are we going to change your circumstance? So as bad as the habits are, you accumulate over time, you have to undo those, some of those habits that are holding you back. And you have to be willing with that sacrifice to go through that time period where it hurts to be uncomfortable. So you've got to do the uncomfortable things so you can be comfortable and you've got to change those habits mentally, physically, emotionally in order to have a holistic change in your character, in your life, in your circumstances.

Without that, you're just going through another year of the same kind of thing over and over again. So I would encourage you out there to take the time to do a self evaluation of the things that are helping you. But more important, things that are physically and mentally holding you back from taking that next step. Whatever that next step is, may be small, may be incremental, may be big, may be family oriented, career oriented, a better father, mother, friend, whatever it may be.

Take time to take some inventory yourself on what you're doing well and what those habits are, good and bad and how you can correct them. So that's my shout. That's my off the court message. 2025 is going to be a phenomenal year. Make sure you're the best person. You put yourself in the best situation to be the best that you can be in 2025. Hey, it's Rich Eisen here.

Join me and my compadre Chris Brockman every Monday on the overreaction Monday podcast. You're also saying the record's going to go down. I'm saying the record's going down anyway.

The guy. I don't think you're off on this at all. Like you're spot on. I don't think this is an overreaction because we have no idea what we're reacting to. Come react or overreact with us. Overreaction Monday. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. It's game over. Over.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-02 18:06:34 / 2025-01-02 18:23:54 / 17

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